True Darkness
by DeathySophia
Summary: A new evil has risen, even more sinister than Malistaire. Follow the adventure of a young wizard to unveil the mystery of the evil forces intending to take over the Spiral. Please R&R
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello, this is the revamp of my old Wizard101 story. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Wizard101, KingsIsle does.

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><p>TRUE DARKNESS<p>

Chapter 1

I knew all along that I would fail. The look on Professor Greyrose's face was clearly telling me that when I started waving my wand. A dab of sweat trickled down my face despite the low temperature ever present in the Ice school building. I spoke the incantation then and it gave me another clue; I didn't feel the tug inside me which said is the sign you draw magic successfully from within. True enough, nothing happened when I finished my incantation; my wand unlit, no Snowman standing before me.

The whole class roared in laughter. I blushed furiously. There was no defense coming up from my mouth because I knew it would be pointless; I've been failing to do the Evil Snowman spell three times in a row in three previous meetings. I looked at the laughing crowd and found Hamz Thunderwalker laughing the loudest of all while he nearly doubled over from his chair. "Seriously, how hard can it be to do such a simple spell? What a complete idiot!" he shouted then started laughing again.

I felt anger rose inside of me like a rocket. Hamz Thunderwalker was a boy of my age who studied Storm magic; you'd know instantly from his purple clothing Diviners always wear. He had shoulder-length brown hair that he kept tied back and sly hazel eyes that fit perfectly with his seemingly mocking lips. He was my mortal enemy. We've been crossed in everything ever since the first time we met. I didn't know why and I didn't care. I accepted him as my enemy the moment he shot me with a lightning bolt with absolutely no reason at all at our very first day at Ravenwood School of Magical Arts. After that, he's always been able to pull out ways to make my life miserable, not that my life hasn't been miserable enough to begin with. I glared at him with absolute hate. Seeing that mocking face of his, oh how I would love to jump there and throw him a punch! Just then, I could feel something tugging inside me. The next moment, I felt a tingling sensation on my arm, which was caused by the flow of magical energy. It flowed out of me and to my wand tip. I was ready to throw whatever that was to his laughing face when Professor Greyrose flew in front of me and patted my shoulder.

"That's too bad, my dear, you'll have to try harder than that," she said, breaking my concentration. The energy on my wand evaporated into the air. I looked at her sheepishly and mumbling something about trying harder next time. She smiled at me and then whispered something that only the two of us could hear. "And be careful my dear, I don't want you to start fighting in my class."

My heart leapt; _she knew!_

Well, I say, never underestimate this cheerful fairy-looking grandma before me. She may be only half my height and looked weak but she wasn't called professor for nothing. She was very skilled in the arts of Ice magic here in Wizard City and she was also a teacher in this magic school. I avoided her eyes and quickly walked back to my seat, reminding myself to look out for any outstretched leg blocking my way. There was none, thankfully. Penny Dreadful was looking at me with such concern; she also knew I was going to blast Hamz to kingdom come a while ago. She shook her head slowly, showing her disapproval while I just plopped myself in a seat beside her, not taking anymore attention to the rest of the class.

I soon regretted my action to ignore the last half of Professor Greyrose's lecture as Penny recounted back what they had learned to me. Professor Greyrose had explained about the next spell we can learn after we master the Snowman spell; the Tower Shield. That was a spell that would negate half of any magic attacks thrown to us. It was a very useful spell and I mentally cheered on my decision to choose to learn Ice magic. Although to be honest, at first my plan was only to learn the Volcanic Shield spell to use up against Hamz Thunderwalker.

"Therefore Sophia," Penny said to me after she had ended her recounting. "you need to master the Snowman spell soon, before the next class started, otherwise we can't start practicing the new spell yet. You are the only person who hasn't mastered it in class."

I let out a frustrated sigh. I knew I would make the entire class mad if I didn't master it in time. I honestly didn't care about anyone in class but Penny. She was my only friend in Ravenwood so I didn't want to upset her. Being her classmate and dorm-mate, I knew that she was very eager to learn magic and she was a bright one at that; the exact opposite of me.

The Commons was lively as usual with students 'chilling' around the small clear pond just in front of the Headmaster Tower. The air was hot all morning and it looked like it was going to rain from the nimbus cloud that slowly gathered above us. We, Penny and I, were now at our way to the Arena in Unicorn Way. We didn't have anymore classes to attend to and I have decided to practice the Snowman spell in there.

Being a good friend as she was, Penny had volunteered to come and help me practice. I peered over at her as she told me a few tips to successfully cast that darned spell. Penny was a cute girl with her reddish brown hair cut short an inch above her shoulders. We were at the same age of fourteen though I could tell that she was more mature than I was. She was very nice, always cheerful and calm in any kind of situation. She knew what she was doing and acted accordingly. Compared to me, we were like the earth and the sky for I was a short-tempered one and often act without thinking. Penny came from a famous Death family in Marleybone; The Dreadfuls. She clearly showed how proud she was by her lineage by wearing black and white robes with elaborate design of Death symbols outside of classes. She didn't care that that very symbol was being taboo-ed in the Spiral at the moment, thanks to Malistaire and his crazy plan. Whatever that was, I didn't know much. People only said that Malistaire was an evil wizard and he had spread fear to the Spiral to accomplish his goal. However Penny didn't buy all that. She still thought Malistaire as an awesome person.

"My parents said to me," she told me one day, "that Professor Malistaire is a great person and that I'd enjoy his lecture. It's too bad I can't meet him now due to some things." Those some things were the mysterious disappearance of the Professor himself along with the building of the School of Death and various problems occurring throughout Wizard City years ago. Soon after that, Death magic was feared and become the symbol of evil itself. Necromancers, the successor of Death magic were treated like outcasts in society, even now, and unfortunately Penny and I were ones.

"I'm sorry Penny," I said, catching her attention once we arrived in the Arena. The Arena was one HUGE building consisting of two large, circular, coliseum-like areas with seats surrounding it. It was a place where we hold tournaments; wizards dueling as well as magic training. There were two opened doors leading to different arena once we passed the huge and also opened front doors. We were now at the right arena, which was the practice arena; the left one was used only to hold official tournaments.

Quite a lot of people were there; waving wands, murmuring incantations, and this one boy was seriously mad with his failed attempts to summon a Storm creature that he snapped his wand in two. _I'll probably going to do that too_, I thought, watching him throw his broken wand and storming out of the arena. He stopped abruptly when he saw us walking inside and quickly scowling. "So it was you!" he shouted all of a sudden while pointing an accusing finger at us. I raised an eyebrow as response. "It was because of you two coming that I had a very bad day today!"

I could only stare at him in disbelief with my mouth open as he walked past us. What a completely unreasonable excuse he just made! Penny sensed my body tensing and quickly pulled me away from the door. Then we realized the people inside were pausing what they were doing to stare at us. _Ok, anyone else want to blame their bad luck at us? Bring it on!_ I thought angrily, eyeing every one of them for any sign to do so. But no one did. They resumed their activity, only after they moved as far away from us as possible.

"Well, that's convenient. We need space," Penny said cheerfully as she pulled out her wand from her backpack; and that's why I said she was more mature than me. Things like that were normal to us but it was still annoying for me. I wonder sometimes why she was chosen to be a Necromancer. She was like a Theurgist in any way. She then turned to me, smiling and said, "Isn't that right, Sophia?"

I was pretty sure Ambrose had placed her in the wrong school for her smile would always do a great job to calm me down. I eventually brushed it off and nodded.

"So," said Penny, her chocolate brown eyes studied me for a moment. "What were you apologizing for?" she asked.

"Well, you know. Back then at our Ice class," I took a deep breath. "I messed up. I know you are very eager to learn the next spell, but I messed it up. You'd have been able to practice that spell by now if only I weren't that stupid."

Penny looked at me in disbelief and started to giggle. "Oh Sophia, you talk like there is no tomorrow. And who said you were stupid?"

"Said I."

Penny laughed. "You know you are not stupid. You just didn't get enough practice, that's all. I am sure you'll be able to pull it off soon."

"I'm not sure about that," I said darkly as I pulled out my wand from my backpack.

"What is that? It's not like you to give up so easily."

I wanted to say, _"Not easily, I've failed three times in a row in three classes."_ but I held my tongue. I appreciated her giving me encouragement very much. I just had to believe that I can do it. Penny gave me a gentle push on the shoulder and said, "Come on, I assure you will prevail this time! I will help you, okay?" She was grinning at me and I couldn't help but grin back at her.

_Yes, I just have to belief in myself!_

End of Chapter 1

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><p><strong>AN**: So, what do you think about the first chapter? Please let me know if you find any mistakes. Thanks!

Please review :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Wizard101. Those awesome people at KingsIsle own it.

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><p>True Darkness<p>

Chapter 2

It was such a gloomy afternoon. Thunder rumbled in the sky and the sky itself darkened from the rainclouds while rainwater was pouring heavily from it. _Great_, I thought. We were still in the arena and we've been practicing for more than two hours. My hands were on my knees and I was kinda out of breath. Standing in front of me was a Snowman-like creature wearing a hat and carrying a dagger. If you are wondering, that Snowman wasn't mine. It was Penny's. As you can probably guess, I haven't succeeded in summoning that creature, and I was grumpy as heck.

The sound of constant giggles and laughter from the people around me were somehow magnified in my ears, and that didn't help my temper at all. I trembled slightly, fighting the urge to yell at them to mind their own businesses. That was the hundredth time I have failed in summoning the Ice creature and I didn't want them to remind me how stupid I really was. I was already aware of that myself, thank you.

"This kid is hopeless," said a heavy voice. I looked up and saw the Snowman pointing its dagger at me. "Now Penny if you are done with me, I gotta go. I have better things to do than watching this hopeless kid for hours. Do not summon me unless it's an emergency! Farewell!"

"Don, wait!" Penny called out, but Don the Snowman has already gone in a puff of smoke, leaving a puddle of water where it once stood. _That's right, I'm hopeless_. I let out a bitter laugh. I was going to make my prediction come true –to snap my wand in two when Penny reached out to stop me from doing so. "Please don't do that."

I gave her a you-can't-stop-me-whatever-you-do sort of look while she encountered with a sympathetic look. "I know how you feel but you can't give up," Penny said softly.

"Yes I can, Penny. They won't answer to my call! That's a fact!"

"That's not true. You are just not doing it right yet. You just have to keep trying…"

"And what would make it different from before? I've been doing this stuff for two hours! Two hours and fruitless, Penny!" I shouted at her, one thing I rarely do. However, this time was different. I didn't feel bad for doing so because she kept telling me to do what I couldn't do. It was already frustrating enough without thinking about the guilty feeling I would feel to have failed her expectations. "It is over. I can't do this."

I slung my backpack over to my shoulder and turned to leave but Penny grabbed my arm. "Just try one more time. I promise I will stop pestering you about this stuff after that."

I considered her offer for a moment. Yeah, it would be better than have her talk about it the whole time. I just need one more failure and it's all over. "Fine," I said, throwing my backpack to a nearby bench and readying myself.

I recalled Penny's advice she gave me for the umpteenth times. "Concentrate. Feel the element then picture the energy flowing out of you." I wiped the sweat off my forehead and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes then. _Okay, concentrate… think about the ice… ice is cold, ice is solid…_ I felt a brush of wind on my uncovered arms and face. It was cold but it helped me grasp the feeling of the element. _Now picture the energy flowing out of me, like the stream of a river…_

I opened my eyes and started waving my wand to form the Ice symbol in the air. "O, Snowman the creature of Ice. Accept the power I am offering. _I bid you to come!_"

My wand gave off a little spark and more cold wind was blowing in my direction. For a moment I thought I really made it but I knew not to have my hopes high. One second later the spark on my wand-tip was gone and the wind was apparently coming from the open door where three figures were standing. One of them was looking at me mockingly while trying hard to suppress his desire to laugh rolling on the floor; Hamz Thunderwalker.

Anger suddenly rose inside of me like a volcano as I saw him approaching us, snickering.

"Well well well… if it isn't the moron who can't even do a simple spell," Hamz said smugly as he stopped several feet in front of me, his hands on his hips.

"Go away, Hamz!" Penny said somewhere from my right. Suddenly I was not aware of anything else in my surroundings; it was just Hamz and me. My green eyes were focused on his blue ones before he averted them to meet Penny's.

"Now here, little Miss 'Dreadful', you can't just shoo me away as you please. I have the right to be here, you know. It's not like this place is yours anyway," said Hamz, smirking. His two buddies followed suit. Penny retorted but I heard only little because I was busy observing the jerk in front of me. The way he smirked made his eyes narrowed even more, making him look more evil. That and my frustrated feeling I felt during the practice has fueled my anger even more to go up past the usual boiling point. Something was tugging inside me and I felt my whole body tingling, like it was electricity that ran through my veins and not blood. Before I even knew it, I've blasted Hamz with whitish yet deadly looking beam from my wand. He didn't have time to react to the sudden development of the situation and received the beam head on in the chest, causing him to fly backwards to a group of people. They screamed and fell to the ground once Hamz's body made contact with them.

Penny's eyes widened twice their normal size as she processed what was just going on. "Oh no, this isn't good…" She then turned to me and tried to pull me out of the arena, but I held my ground. "Come on Sophia, we must leave right this instant…"

I shook her hands off me. "No!" I said without taking my eyes off Hamz who was now already at his feet. "I've always wanted to do that ever since…" I didn't get to finish my sentence as at that moment a yellowish beam hit me hard in the chest. I stumbled backwards, coughing. "Dang it, who's…"

And it was the first time I became aware of her presence in the room; a beautiful blonde girl wearing yellow robes and pointed hat, the sign that she was a Conjurer who study Myth magic. Her blond hair was tied to one side and her gray eyes were drilling me. Her wand was still pointing at me.

I looked at her for a moment and I could only make out a great resentment in her eyes. It wasn't used to be like that. The gray eyes I remember were always full of warmth and calming. Her smile could even melt the most awkward situation. I would have never thought that the one cheerful little girl I got along with back then would become a cold person with full of hate towards me, a person who wouldn't hesitate to blast me with magic. I bit my lip, feeling a little hurt inside. No, I couldn't hate her. True she hurt me but I completely understand why she changed the way she was now…

"Stand aside, Jessica," said Hamz who was standing behind her. Jessica lowered her wand and turned to him, asking if he was alright. "Yeah yeah I'm alright. Now would you please stand aside? I have a score to settle here," he shoved her to the side and walked towards me once again. "Don't interfere," he warned everyone in the room. His gesture would probably angered higher ranked students but there were none of them at the moment. As you probably know, no one objected; they were smart enough not to make him their enemy, and also they would get to see a Death student beaten to death.

I quickly got up, my wand ready to encounter whatever he would throw at me. But he didn't do anything, not yet. Instead he chuckled, "So the little Death missy here finally has the gut to challenge me after three years. Took you long enough, missy. How pathetic…" he laughed and everyone but Penny and I mimicked him. They were now forming a wide circle with me, Penny, and Hamz in the middle. _So this is it, I get to finally fight Hamz for real now_, I thought.

Hamz seemed to think the same thing as he then said, "I'm glad that we can finally have a decent fight here. It's just too bad that this isn't official. I would love humiliating you in front of everyone, but…" His smirk was apparent then as he looked around the room. "this amount of people will do."

"That's not going to happen," I growled, clutching my wand tighter.

"We'll see about that." Just then, he suddenly raised his wand and blasted a lightning bolt in my direction. I managed to move a feet to the side as the bolt crashed to the ground between me and Penny. Smoke erupted from the impact, but strangely the floor wasn't damaged at all.

"Whoa!" we tumbled backwards and were now on the ground.

"Sophia," Penny started. "this really isn't good. We have to…"

"Penny, you have to move out! I don't want you to get caught in this fight!" I helped her get to her feet and pushed her to the small crowd that formed the circle. Penny protested but she stopped when Hamz fired another bolt at me. I jumped to the side to avoid it and countered with a whitish beam of my own. Hamz avoided it with ease and let it pass behind him, where a guy jumped up to avoid it from hitting him. The beam then crashed uselessly on the magical barrier ever present between the arena's outer wall and the audiences' seats.

"Heh not bad, Deathy. It's just too bad that little miss Dreadful over there would not join this fight, don't you think? I would really love to see your desperate faces begging me to stop," he smirked.

"Shut up!" I yelled angrily. "Penny has nothing to do with this!" I drew the black Death symbol in the air and it glowed whitish color. "Come forth, Ghoul!"

A foul smell filled the air as a zombie kind of man wearing ragged suit and a tattered top hat materialized in front of me, weighing his shovel in his bony hands threateningly towards Hamz. He lunged at him, thrusting his shovel forward.

"Getting serious, are we now?" he chuckled as he sidestepped the Ghoul's shovel. Then he drew the purple Storm symbol in the air. The symbol glowed as he shouted, "Lightning Bats!" Suddenly the air crackled with electricity as three bats made of lightning appeared a few feet above his head. The bats made a chirping sound as they swooped down towards the Ghoul and swarming him, electrocuting him every time they make contacts with his body. The Ghoul roared in annoyance while he swung his shovel around, trying to whack the bats to the ground. Apparently the bats were too fast for him for none of his shovel assault hit them. Two bats then dive-bombed him and struck him square in his chest, making him groan as the bats electrocuted him. And not long after that the Ghoul disappeared along with the two bats.

"No!" My eyes widened in shock to see how easy it was for him to destroy my spell.

"Forget something?" Hamz's voice made me look up, just in time to see the third bat swooping down at me before ramming into my body. I groaned as it electrocuted me before I fell to the puddle of water left by Penny's Snowman. _Gosh, that hurt!_ I rolled to my side, trembling slightly from the shock. Good thing the freezing water from the puddle helped me soothe the pain.

A lightning bolt fell very close to me, startling me. Two more bolts came my way as I backed away. I countered then with my white beam and used that split second moment as Hamz avoided it to get back up. Apparently Hamz didn't let that second go to waste as a second later, a large cobra snake was materialized. I felt the hair behind my neck stood up and that had very little to do with the electricity that sparked off the snake; I HATE snakes! The snake uncoiled its body and tackled me back to the ground by using its tail. Once again electricity coursed through my body from the impact. What came afterwards was agonizing. My scream was reverberating through the domed ceiling as my body engulfed in electricity the snake was sprouting. Again I found myself fell on the water puddle. I heard Penny's worried voice call to me but I was too busy trying to stop my trembling body. I looked down and saw my reflection in the water. The reflection I saw was pitiful; a black robed girl with disheveled long black hair, partly wet, and there was a look of desperation on her green eyes… Desperation…

"What's wrong Deathy? Is it over already?" Hamz laughed mockingly, which soon was followed by everyone else.

_It's too much_, a voice deep inside of me said. Indeed, the difference between our powers was too much. I could now understand people were not making up about him being a genius. I have seen it by myself; how he could control his spell very well. The fight hadn't even lasted for five minutes and I felt like I could no longer going. _Yeah, a lousy person at magic like me, with a genius Diviner like him, I'll be absolutely no match…_

I gasped. _No! Stop thinking like that!_ _Isn't that what he exactly wants? To see me desperate?_ I squeezed my hands into fists, new determination came rushing at me. _No, I won't let him get that pleasure! I can't give up, I have to believe in myself!_ Then the tug inside of me was getting stronger as I was getting up. It spread warmth all over me and I felt like I could do ANY magic at that moment.

"I see you can still going, although I'd be disappointed if you don't. To be knocked out just by a spell like that would make you a forever loser," sneered Hamz from across the room.

I smiled slightly. No matter how talented he might be, I didn't want to lose! "I assure you that I won't disappoint you, even better, I'll make you the loser." And I started waving my wand and murmuring a certain incantation I was so familiar with from the last two hours; "O, Snowman the creature of Ice. Accept the power I am offering. _I bid you to come!" _

The Ice symbol I drew was glowing as I felt energy flowing out to my wand-tip. The next second, I could feel the change of temperature as the darn Snowman finally materialized in front of me. It was big and taller than me, probably because of its hat, carrying a dagger, looking evil and… mine! If it wasn't for the serious situation at the moment, I'd have cheered like a kid. Everyone seemed to be staring at me with their jaws open to see my sudden development, though I could hear Penny cheered and said, "You did it, Sophia! You finally did it!"

"Heh, so someone finally answered to my call, huh?" I said sarcastically to the Snowman.

"You got a problem with that, kid?" the Snowman said without turning. I grinned at it and said, "No. Not at all. Thank you for coming."

With that, the Snowman quickly slide forward, leaving ice track in its trail, and slashed at the Thunder Snake. The snake dissolved into nothing, clearing its way towards Hamz.

"Argh!" he screamed as the Snowman had managed to slash his left arm. The sleeve of his robe ripped and blood could be seen flowing out from it. "How dare you! You will pay for this!" His eyes flashed madly while he drew the Storm symbol in the air with his wand. The symbol glowed brightly from the amount of energy he put into it. Outside, the thunder rumbled as if it was reacting to whatever spell Hamz was going to unleash. "Come forth, Kraken!"

And I was speechless as a giant figure was slowly materializing in front of me. It was a tall purple, scaly creature with a long pointed tail supporting a… lightning bolt? It roared to the domed ceiling and the voice echoed in the building, scaring everyone out they backed away to the wall.

_No way! Isn't Kraken an Adept-ranked spell? How could an Initiate wizard like him master it already?_

"I mean what I say and I won't hold back my power." That practically said that he wouldn't hesitate to seriously kill me. "Let's see if your little Snowman can stand a chance against it!" The Kraken roared once more before it lunged for an attack.

I gritted my teeth. However you look at it, the monster wouldn't be defeated by just using a mere dagger. Despite the thought, I called to the Snowman to do its best. It slide backwards to avoid the swings of the Kraken's bolt. I knew that would not last long because the Snowman just barely managed to avoid it every time. The Kraken was fast too and after some time, he managed to graze the Snowman bit by bit every swing he made. They were slowly getting closer and closer to me so I had to move backwards near the door that stood ajar to my left.

"Not thinking of running away I hope?" Hamz mocked when he saw me slowly retreating.

I ignored him. _If the Snowman hit the wall, I'm dead_, I thought panicking. _What should I do? What should I do? I won't be able to cast the shield as long as the Snowman is in there, but I also won't make it in time even if the Snowman is defeated. It's too close and fast it will get me before I can cast one._

I must have been thinking too much as I didn't realize the two creatures were already ten feet before me. I gasped as the Snowman's back finally hit me, causing me to fall to the ground. That only meant one thing. The Kraken saw its chance as it pulled its arm back and swung the bolt so hard to the Snowman. The Snowman didn't even have time to scream as it disappeared instantly the moment the bolt made contact with its body.

"Payback time!" Hamz laughed as the Kraken focused its eyes at me and readying itself for a last swing.

_Yea, I guess it's the end…_

_End of Chapter 2_

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><p><strong>AN**: I hope it's not too early for a fight scene cause I had fun writing it XD Again, if you find any mistakes please let me know so I can improve. Thanks and please review :)


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer**: Again, I don't own Wizard101.

* * *

><p>True Darkness<p>

Chapter 3

"This is ridiculous," I grumbled through heavy breaths for the umpteenth time as I dragged my sore legs through a long and dimly lit tunnel. The afternoon air was already hot on the outside and it was doubled on the inside, partly because of the flames on the small torches hanging on the wall. It played my shadow like some big, ugly creature on the brick-walled tunnel. Freshly beads of sweat were forming on my temple, pooling on my furrowed brows before finally streamed down my red-hot face. I brushed it off with the sleeve of my robe every now and then. The occasional breeze that blew in gave a cool sensation on my exposed skin, but it was not enough to drain even the slightest hotness I felt.

"What's the point of living in the world full of magic if you are not allowed to use it to help you!" I shouted to no one in particular. I was frustrated and mad, and it grew more and more intense as the sore in my legs intensified. _It was all that guy's fault!_ I roared in my mind as I peered over my shoulder to see _'that guy'_ walking silently behind me.

_Flashback, three days ago._

_Strong wind was beating hard against my face as I stared in horror at the raging Kraken before me. Its huge, purple muscles were strained as it brought its lightning bolt back behind its head, ready to throw it at me at any second. I was freezing to the ground from the cold and fear. I realized it could be the last seconds of my life and wished it was a different scenery than the one I see now. I couldn't do anything and when it brought its bolt forward, I knew I was a goner, or so I thought. I automatically closed my eyes, hoping it would lessen the pain. There was a swishing sound, more wind blowing to me, and finally there it was; the clashing sound._

_Well, it was… okay. I meant I didn't feel a thing. I was expecting it to be painful, being struck by a lightning bolt and all. Was it because I was a Death student that I wouldn't feel a thing when I died? If that's so, it was weird. I could still hear voices around me vaguely, and this cold… it seemed like I hadn't left the arena at all. Slowly, I opened my eyes; the sight in front of me made them instantly widen._

_The air crackled with more electricity, and there, stood towering before me was another Kraken whose lightning bolt intercepted the other's from skewering me. I watched with my mouth open as it deflected the bolt upwards and quickly discharged a bolt of lightning towards Hamz's Kraken. It dodged and the bolt flew past it to a group of kids across the room, who screamed and scrambled out of the way. It crashed uselessly on the invisible barrier._

_Then the newly summoned Kraken fired yet another bolt but the other managed to deflect it with the swipe of its hand and the stray bolt flew outside through the open doors and into the rain. Shortly after that, an explosion could be heard amongst the sound of the rumbling sky. I knew the bolt must have hit something but I did not have time to find out what it was as the two Krakens were fighting, clashing their lightning bolt against each other's and sending electricity flying everywhere. People were screaming and running around the room, but there I was, sitting on the ground and unable to move as if my body had been nailed to the ground while the two creatures were fighting very close to me. I just hoped I didn't get trampled._

_Fortunately, the fight didn't last very long. Eventually, the newly summoned Kraken got a nice opening and quickly struck its lightning bolt down onto Hamz's. It gave a loud roar before disintegrating into nothingness. And then the room became quiet as if someone had just casted a Silencing Charm. No one spoke a word, even Hamz Thunderwalker was speechless. His expression was that of a mixture between disbelief, rage, and hurt, and it was a rare occasion to see such expression on his face. The Kraken casted by the genius Diviner of Ravenwood had just got pwned by some random person's. _

_Who could that be?_

_I noticed everyone was looking at the direction on my left, and that was what I did a second later. There, standing not far from me, was a boy around fifteen years old wearing black robes; his skull-tipped wand was still halfway raised. My heart skipped a beat as I realized who it was. Those soft purple eyes, his somewhat long, spiky black hair, and that indifferent expression on his face were very familiar to me; Chase Hunter._

_I did not believe my eyes that that mysterious, the most anti-social wizard ever existed in Ravenwood had just saved my life. He flicked his wand lazily and the Kraken disappeared in a pop. The room went silent again then. I was just about to say something just to break the silence when a familiar, annoying voice spoke nearby._

"_Detention, for the both of you," spoke a tall, yellow-robed man with bald head which was strangely adorned with several red lumps on it. His voice was trembling with suppressed anger. His brows furrowed so deep his eyebrows connected together, his face as red as tomato while his hand was pointing at Chase and me._

_End of Flashback._

I never liked Cyrus Drake and after that incident, my hatred towards him grew even more. The stuck-up Myth magic professor disregarded that Chase was fighting with Hamz and chose ME instead to give detention to and freed Hamz from any punishment. Why? Because I was a Death student and when did Death students ever get to receive justice? As far as I know, never. At least I found something I could laugh about about that incident. Later, I found out why Cyrus Drake got so mad; the stray lightning bolt from Chase's Kraken had struck the statue of Unicorn beside the entrance tunnel from The Commons. The debris had fallen all over him who happened to just emerged from the tunnel. I would start laughing like crazy when I remembered how he looked like with those red lumps on his bald head.

However, the price for that little laugh was great. He ordered Chase and me to help Harold Argleston to retrieve unused books from the towers in Ravenwood to the library. That sounded simple, but you wouldn't think so if you weren't allowed to use any magic or mounts in the process. We had to walk all the way from the towers to the library and vice versa, which was such a big deal; the towers were full of stairs plus it needed fifteen minutes to get to the library on foot and we had to keep repeating it till all the books were retrieved. This was our third day of detention and we still have Life and Myth towers unchecked.

I let out a sigh. I knew I shouldn't be mad at Chase for saving my life. Although I had no idea why he did that; he never answered when I asked him. Now that I think about it, he was also an Initiate wizard like me but he also mastered Kraken spell just like Hamz did. That Kraken was not from a Treasure Card, I was sure of that because it didn't have the particular golden glow surrounding it, the indication that it was summoned from Treasure Card. What's with those people able to master spells way above their ranks?

Finally we stepped out of the tunnel and I momentarily lose my frustration to stare at my surroundings in usual awe. The sight of the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts was always breathtaking; the magnificent, colorful buildings were built surrounding a gigantic tree namely Bartleby, the one responsible in holding The Spiral together with its roots. The trunk was HUGE with large branches and thick leaves that spread in all direction, forming a gigantic canopy that almost covered the entire area. You could barely see the sky in Ravenwood. Etched onto the front of the trunk was a relief of bearded, wrinkled, one-eyed feature of an old man. Where the mouth should have been was an entrance led by stairs that go down to the Spiral Chamber, where the Magic Door that will bring you to another location of the Spiral was located.

Kids and teenagers in cloaks of various colors were hanging outside of the dorm buildings as the classes were over in the afternoon. We turned left to the direction of the green Life school and were not surprised to see Hamz Thunderwalker, Jessica, and their one bulky friend whose name, I learned, was David Stronghammer leaning against Blossom, the Life tree. They all straightened up when they saw us and quickly glared at us. Hamz showed the most intimidating look of all and he threw it towards my fellow Necromancer. He seemed to have completely forgotten about me, which was good. The incident three days ago had hurt his pride and from the looks of him now, he was going to make sure the one hurting him would pay for it. I turned towards Chase who was walking silently behind me the entire time. His expression was as indifferent as ever, completely unfazed by the death glares thrown at him.

Hamz walked up to us. _Here he goes again_, I sighed.

"I want a rematch!" he declared, pointing his finger towards Chase.

The addressed Necromancer looked bored. I couldn't blame him; Hamz had been doing this since two days ago, but of course my fellow Necromancer would just ignore him and left without a word. And that's what he did.

"Hey, wait! Give me your answer! You've been avoiding me the whole time!" Hamz shouted, grabbing Chase's shoulder. They glared at each other.

"Give it a rest, Hamz. He doesn't want to. Stop pestering him and accept your defeat like a man you are," I spoke up. That earned his attention.

"What did you say?" he growled at me, looking as if he was ready to devour me alive. "I accept defeat to no one."

"But he did defeat you."

"Shut up! Stay out of this, Deathy or I'll make sure you wouldn't be as lucky as last time in the arena."

I blushed furiously, half-angry and half-embarrassed by that comment. I have never been more humiliated before and I swore I would return it to him ten folds. _Sometime… somehow I will make it true!_ I was about to retort when Professor Cyrus Drake showed up with a scowl on his temple.

"I was wondering where you went. Stop slacking off and let's get today's work over with," he said monotonously then turned his attention towards Hamz's hand resting on my fellow's shoulder. "What's going on here?" he asked, eyeing us intently.

Hamz let go of Chase's shoulder then. "It's nothing, Professor," he said while shooting Chase one final death glare. He turned to his friends and left after saying, "Good afternoon" to Professor Drake.

We watched until they disappeared to the tunnel we were just coming from. Professor Drake then turned to us. "Let's go," he said and started walking. He led us to the tall yellow building with pointy roof standing just in front of the building of the School of Myth; the Myth Tower.

I looked at the tower and heaved a long, depressed sigh. _Here we go again._

Professor Drake unlocked the door with a tap of his wand and then turned to us. "You can rest after you are done with this tower. The books are in the third, fourth, and sixth floor if I remember it correctly, already sorted and packed into several boxes each floor. I study a lot, you see," he added upon seeing the incredulous look crossed upon my face. "I'll be watching you in case you try something funny and make sure you do really get what you deserved for causing troubles," he said with triumphant smile on his face.

_We already get it, thank you_, I growled mentally. I know he was not mad about the statue but about his head, but even so it was already healed exactly five minutes after he stormed into the arena with a bit of healing spell. And it wasn't exactly my fault.

We were about to enter the tower when someone called.

"Professor Drake, Professor Drake. Wait up!"

We turned to the source of the voice to see a humanoid cow draped in green robes we knew as Professor Moolinda Wu. She hurried to approach us. "Thank goodness I found you here. I was wondering where you went," she said as she stopped near us.

"I was watching their detention," Professor Drake replied, pointing his thumb at us.

"Oh dear," Professor Wu said looking at us. "What have they done this time?"

"They had blown up the statue of the unicorn in Unicorn Way."

"It wasn't me," I muttered under my breath but apparently nothing can escape Professor Drake's attention as he then glared at me.

"Anyway, what brings you here, Professor Wu?" he asked in his usual tone of importance.

"Oh yes, I have a message for you from the Headmaster. He wished to see you as soon as you received this message."

Professor Drake raised an eyebrow.

"It's something concerning _that_ man," whispered Professor Wu but I couldn't help, heard it too.

The bald man's expression turned full with concern after hearing that and I got the feeling I know who they were talking about. "That man…" I muttered quietly to myself.

Professor Drake shot me a glare as though I just suddenly bite him or something. He then closed the door and turned to us again. "I guess we can call it a day. I can't let you roam around without my watching you in my tower. You may go now."

We gladly complied. When I turned around again, Professor Drake has already gone in a puff of smoke while Professor Wu hurried back to her classroom. I turned to my companion; his soft purple eyes were staring forward in indifference.

"Are you thinking what you think I'm thinking? About _that_ man they were talking about?" I asked him rather excitedly.

No answer. Chase Hunter just kept staring forward and acted like I wasn't there. I might as good as talking to a stone.

_Okay, I am just a ghost_, I grumbled mentally as I turned to the girl's dorm building, scaring the girls standing in my way with my glare.

_End of Chapter 3_

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><p><strong>AN**: There, let me know what you think. Criticism or anything. Review, please? :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I would really love to own Wizard101, but alas, I don't. KingsIsle owns it.

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><p><strong>TRUE DARKNESS<strong>

Chapter 4

My nap turned out to be a lot longer as it was already dinner time, or so I was told by the gentle yet somewhat urgent voice of Penny's. I stirred and rolled to my side, letting out a small grunt at the disturbance. I opened my eye just a crack, my gaze facing the large wardrobe across from the bed and then at the dim lamp hanging on the ceiling. It looked like it was a couple of hours before midnight, but really, being in this room could fool you as to what the real time is at night. And I was right as the clock on the wall confirmed that it was still five past seven.

I yawned wide, not bothering to cover it and looked around the room for my friend. Even with the help of the lamp above, aside from my still-blurred eyes, it was still fairly dark due to the dark colored wall and flooring. It was the result of Penny's boldness at showing her pride as a Death student that she abandoned the consideration of practical use before applying the dark items and furniture in the room. My eyes then caught some movement near the foot of the bed and I saw Penny standing in front of the mirror on the right wall, applying light make up to her face. I blinked once and I felt sleep began to possess me once again. When I show no sign of leaving the bed after two minutes, Penny looked at me warily and said, "Come on Sophia, you don't want to miss dinner!"

The lower bunk where I was lying was so warm and comfortable I just wanted to lie there forever and sleep, but then the imaginary creature in my stomach reminded me of how I have not fed it since breakfast by letting out a low, demanding growl. I groaned; as much as I wanted to just stay there, I couldn't simply ignore it. I sat up, stretched, and swung my legs off the bed, swearing under my breath as they make impact with the chair stood just beside the bed. I wished the dorm room could be roomier. The room was only about three meters square wide. Most of the spaces had already been occupied by some furniture, large ones at that. The bed was standing against the far wall across from the door, a long desk half filled with piles of thick books and a candle holder beside it. There was a large window just slightly above the desk, which was the only ventilation in the room; a cool gentle breeze and a smell of rain outside was blowing through the small crack of not having it fully locked. It also made studying a little less boring as it gave us the beautiful scenery of the Ravenwood area below. Two chairs were shoved beneath the desk, one of which I had just knocked earlier. On the left wall stood a large, old wardrobe and a shoe rack just nearby the door. If I had had a choice, I would throw away the wardrobe and replace it with a smaller one; we didn't have many things to keep in there anyway.

I took some time massaging my legs; adding to the sore from the impact with the chair, the sore from the previous exertion in the afternoon had not completely gone yet. Oh well, on a positive note, at least I got a pleasant nap. I rose from the bed and took out my favorite clothes from the wardrobe; a long-sleeved white shirt, a black with red-trimmed vest, and a matching knee-length skirt. My body was all sticky with sweat so I wanted to take a shower first before going down the dining hall, but Penny insisted that I do it after dinner.

"We are already fifteen minutes late. Just change and wash your face."

I rolled my eyes behind her back as she turned to give me some privacy to change. Penny was always strict about getting in time. She could suddenly be pushy at times, a habit of hers of which I hated and also gratitude at at the same time because without it, I wouldn't have gotten to class in time every time.

Once I finished dressing, Penny opened the door. That's when I realized just how hungry I was. The various smell of delicious food down the dining hall has creeped inside the room like a ghost and invaded my nose, causing my mouth to water slightly. I hurriedly wash my face as we passed the bathroom on our way down. The hallways were practically empty; the other girls must have already been down there eating dinner. Penny dragged me by the arm through the hallways and we were practically half-running and half-flying down the stairs, an act I think was not necessary because I would do just that without her forcing me to.

A pair of large, brown double oak doors with beautiful ornate stood sturdily before us, the handles were designed to resemble vines entangled together. The appetite-raising smells grew stronger in here indicating the Dining Hall was just beyond these doors. I pushed it open to reveal a wide and high-ceilinged room full of girls in various robe colors. Unlike our room, the dining hall was bright from the big chandeliers hanging above. The girls were sitting cramped together in six long tables filled with food and drink, making clattering noises with their spoons, forks, and knives while chattering as noisily. There were actually seven tables in there, but the one table near the door was completely free of occupants. You see, the tables were arranged for each of the school of magic so you have a pretty good idea which school that table belonged to.

Ignoring the usual murmurs of disgust from the girls when they saw us, I propped myself into a seat nearest to the door on that dark-covered table and began to scan the content. Penny positioned herself across from me and mimicked me. The dining hall was the only place in Ravenwood that did us real justice. Despite of its only few occupants, the table was always full with food and drink covering the surface just like the others. While we were gratitude of it, I thought that was a total waste for it was clearly impossible for the two of us to down them all.

Anyway, tonight's menu was as wonderful as always. Various cooking of chicken, beef, any meat you can think of, scattered across the table in several plates along with many others. A jug of hot chocolate and mugs were placed in interval of every five chairs along with the desserts, which mostly consisted of cakes. I took a glance towards the Fire table where the girls were having a little fight over a cake. A smirk formed upon my lips. I pulled a whole cake to myself, purposely lifting it to my nose and inhaled its sweet aroma slowly when one of the Novices stared at our table with her mouth open longingly. Penny, having noticed what I was doing, smacked my arm. I laughed. Poor Novices would always get the leftover, which wasn't much. We didn't mind sharing our table with them, but knowing them, they would just turn our offer down and yell at us, making it seemed like we ask for their food and not otherwise. Taking our attention back at our table, we then proceeded to fill our plates with a bit of every dish and started to eat.

The food tasted wonderful I literally wolf down all of my plate's content in ten minutes. Penny cringed disapprovingly as I belched out loud and commented, "You eat like a gobbler that hasn't eaten in months."

I just laughed and started digging in the dessert. Penny shook her head in disbelief while putting her spoon and fork down. "How could you not gain weight with that kind of gobbler's appetite after three years?" Penny wondered out loud.

"Eh, just my luck?" I shrugged. Unlike other girls, I didn't really care about that matter. Food is food, there are plenty of them and free, so we just have to enjoy it, no? We continued eating in silence for the next five minutes. Most of the girls were already returned to their rooms by then, leaving only about twenty people or so chatting and laughing with each other. I watched them once in a while from behind my half-eaten cake, laughing after taking a glance towards us. Needless to say that they were talking about us.

"Anyway Sophia," Penny said, and I was glad for the distraction because the thought of yelling at them to mind their own businesses was ready to come out of my mouth. "Are you done with your detention? You returned sooner than you should be today."

I snorted. "I wish. You know how Drake is. He's just playing with us!"

"I think you meant Professor Drake, Sophia." Penny corrected me.

"I don't care, Penny. I hate him." I said simply and I meant it. I wonder how he could become a professor with that kind of attitude.

Penny shrugged. I knew she wasn't even sure whether to respect or hate the professor herself. Penny also hated him for his self-importance, arrogance kind of attitude, yet at the same time he was a professor that's bound to be respected. Yeah, that was a pretty hard decision for Penny, a model of devoted student, to choose. For me, you know the answer already!

"Well," Penny readjusted herself in her chair, "I just want to remind you that our third year is almost over and you'd better continue working on filling up your Experience Point for this year to pass to Journeyman rank."

My forkful-cake halted halfway in the air between my open mouth and the table when Penny completed her sentence, my eyes widened in realization. _Dang it, I've completely forgotten about that!_

What is this about the Experience Point, you ask? In Ravenwood Academy, we have to take seven years of study. There are a total of seven ranks; Novice, Apprentice, Initiate, Journeyman, Adept, Magus, and lastly Master. In our first year, we start off as Novice wizards, and the next year, we move up a rank and become Apprentice wizards, and so on. To pass the year and move up a rank, we must fulfill two things. Firstly, we must pass all the subjects given through the final exams, and secondly, we must fill up our Experience Point; the amount of points for every rank is different, the higher the rank, the more points are needed to collect. Experience Point is gotten from the 'quests' we receive from the people in Wizard City (or other worlds depending on your rank), be it wizards or non-wizards, mostly the latter. The non-wizards need our help with all the 'magic-ky' stuff, so simply speaking, we, wizards, help them with whatever magical problem they have and they will give us Experience Points and sometimes other useful stuff too in return.

I abandoned my cake as I tried to recall how many points I have collected on my Badge. If I remember correctly, I wasn't even done half of it and the school year will be over in like, four weeks? I stared at Penny in horror. "Oh my God, Penny. What do we do?"

"Well, I'm not really worried about myself," said Penny as she poured herself a mug of hot chocolate.

"How so?"

Penny shrugged and just showed me her Initiate Badge that she always carry everywhere. The small thing had a tiny glow around the inner edge which meant that it had collected the points needed.

I stared at her in disbelief. "What? But the last time I checked, we have the same amount of points!" I complained, feeling betrayed.

"Well, I do quests when I have free time, you know, when Professor Wethersfield brought us to Krokotopia for field study. I took the opportunity to do quests there when the study session is over. The people there give much more Experience Point than here in Wizard City."

"Oh," I said in understanding. Penny had also taken Balance class too by the way, so she got the chance of visiting Krokotopia quite often. Well, lucky her.

"By the way you reacted, you don't have it as well as I do, do you? You need to finish your detention soon so you can start working on it."

_Easy said than done_, I sighed frustratingly, remembering Professor Drake's mention about the amount of books we have yet to return. My detention would not end soon, I was pretty sure of it. Speaking of detention, something more important came up to my mind. Putting my Experience Point problem aside, I turned to Penny, a mixture of excitement and seriousness showed in my face. "Hey Penny, guess what?"

"Hmm?" Penny looked over at me from behind a mug of hot chocolate she was drinking.

"I had heard a big news."

Then I told her about the brief conversation between Cyrus Drake and Moolinda Wu this afternoon and my suspicion of who they were talking about. I had expected her to be surprised, but aside from her slightly raised eyebrows, her expression didn't change a bit, which made me kind of disappointed. "Oh, come on Penny, aren't you surprised?" I complained with a sigh. I meant, what I just told her was a BIG news!

Penny simply shrugged. "I don't know, Sophia. They could be talking about someone else."

"They couldn't be," I insisted. "If only you saw Drake's expression when hearing that, you'd know it was Malistaire they were talking about. How many people in the Spiral does he care about anyway?"

"Like I say earlier, I don't know. If it really was Malistaire they were talking about, what are you gonna do about it? Hmm?"

"Well, it's just that it's the first time I heard the news about him after so long, so I kind of become excited to know how he's doing." Don't get me wrong there, it's not that I was his fan or whatever. What he did was awful. I could still feel the cold air of that day lashed on my skin as I watched the Death School building being ripped apart from Bartleby's root right in front of my eyes. The wails and screams of agony from the students inside the building were still clear sounding in my ears, piercing through my heart and sending shivers down my spine as they, along with the building plummeted down out of sight. That's no way I would forget that day. Many had died in that incident and I shuddered every time I thought of how close I was to losing my life too. I survived because I came late that day. I survived, all thanks to my laziness. "I hope, if the news is really about Malistaire, it's good news this time, that they finally succeeded in capturing him or something."

There was a moment of pause between us as though my last sentence was a prayer. I looked up at Penny and I knew she was having a mental conflict within her head. She was still finding it hard to believe the fact that the one she once looked up to had turned evil and caused so much misery to many people. The last time I read the news about him, about a year ago, he was in Krokotopia and was causing a stir up between the land's inhabitants. The Ravenwood Bulletin, the one and only believable source of information regarding Malistaire, had also mentioned about a 'Krokonomicon' once. I wasn't sure what that was, but then after that, The Ravenwood Bulletin had stopped writing the detailed information of what Malistaire was doing, and only writing the most general information on the situation and not about Malistaire himself; either they had lost a brilliant informer or they had received an order to keep all that was happening low profile. I was more leaned to the latter considering the article consisted the mention of Krokonomicon had caused a little panic between the higher-up wizards. Anyway, after the stir up, Krokotopia was not a really safe place anymore to go around unarmed, and guards were constantly placed at the entrances of every area. Nobody knew what Malistaire's plan was; he seemed to just causing havoc wherever he went. I wonder if I would be like that too if I were to lose someone I loved.

"We'd better going back now. Dinner time is almost over." Penny's voice snapped me back from my thought. I looked at the big Grandfather Clock at the wall behind me. It was a little before eight, that's when all of the food disappear from the table. You wouldn't find even a scrap behind after that, so it was important to be going to dinner on time as you were not allowed to go out of Ravenwood's ground after eight o'clock to buy food; again I thanked Penny for that in my mind. Picking up an apple, I was halfway rising from my chair when I heard the big doors snapped open followed by a girl hurried inside. She collided into my back as she ran past me and the next moment I was thrust forward onto the table. My hand knocked the hot chocolate jug, spilling the content all over the table and to my clothes. Good thing Penny was able to catch me before my face could be buried into my half-eaten cake.

Anger quickly boiled inside me as I whipped my head about in the direction where the girl went. She seemed not to realize what she just did as she kept her pace towards the green-covered table without stopping to mock me. Then I noticed something strange. The girl's clothes were surprisingly soaked wet it clung to her small body like a second layer of brown and green skin. Her short, brown wavy hair was soaked as well; it looked as though she had just come out of the rain outside.

"Calamity!" I heard one of the two Theurgists remained on the Life table calling out to the rain-soaked girl. _Calamity? What an odd name_, I mused_._ "Where have you been? You were gone like all day!"

The addressed girl, who must have been a Theurgist as well, took her time to steady her breaths, her face flushed red as though she had just run a marathon. "I—I got lost…" her soft, almost sing-song voice quivered a little, probably from the cold.

The other Theurgist with black hair shook her head in disbelief before asking, "Calamity, you have been living here for all your life, how come you still managed to get lost?"

"I—I don't know…" I noticed a hint of panic in her voice, even clearly as she said her next sentence. "There is… something important I need to tell you…"

"Whoa, calm down, Call! You sound like you were just chased by a ghost," the first Theurgist exclaimed, her face showing true concern.

"More importantly, here, have dinner first. We have spared you some…"

Just then, the Great clock chimed in eight times, leaving the three Theurgists to freeze momentarily at the sight of the suddenly empty table. What timing. The ninth, growl-like sound that followed a moment after the clock, loud enough that I could hear, was clearly come from Calamity. I saw her face redden even more in embarrassment as she looked miserably at her growling stomach. She looked really close to burst into tears…

And then, a flying apple zoomed towards her.

"OW!" she cried out as the apple made impact with the back of her head, and it took three seconds for me to realize that I was the one throwing it.

"Hey! What is your problem, Deathy!?" the black-haired Theurgist yelled at me, standing up from her chair fast. The other glared at me while Calamity looked down to see what was hitting her.

"At least," I set my jaw and shot them a glare, "have the decency to apologize after knocking someone up and make their clothes dirty."

I turned to leave then, only to find Penny smiling broadly at me.

xxxxxxxxxx

The amount of our homework had us awake until a little past midnight. Having exhausted her eyes and brain after reading some thick and heavy books, Penny collapsed almost immediately after her foot had left the last ladder to the upper bunk. I was just as exhausted as her, minus the sleepiness, thanks to my long nap. From experience, I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep the rest of the night, so after grabbing a sweater, I sneaked my way out to the Commons. That was against the rules, but I couldn't bear staying in the room any longer without doing anything. I needed to take a walk and I didn't want to wake the sleeping Trees in Ravenwood when doing so.

The rain had subsided just a little after we had finished dinner, though tiny droplets of water were still falling from the tree where I was currently hiding in at the moment. I had climbed up the big tree near the pond just outside of the Headmaster Tower after I decided that I had enough of walking. I was currently staring up at the sky. It was amazing. Millions of stars claimed the sky, blinking continuously in a beauty that couldn't be expressed by words. The light from the full moon above made the street lamps kind of useless as it outshone them. The second wonderful thing was the lake. So clear the water that when the moonlight hit the surface, it sparkled beautifully as if having a contest with the stars above.

The night would be a perfect silence had it not been for the night breeze rustling the leaves of the tree. The cold air of the night had tried to penetrate through my sweater without much success, however that wasn't the case with my uncovered arms and face as they were now starting to turn red from the long exposure in the cold. Some owl hooted once in a while, sending off some creepiness into the air. For some people, that might be kind of scary, but I liked that. I always enjoyed night time and its calmness, maybe that's the reason I got chosen to be in the Death school.

I leaned my back against a tree branch, my gaze still glued to the sky, and stayed like that until something caught my attention. The previously dark tower behind me suddenly went bright. Someone had turned on the light inside. The next moment, the front door opened wide and the thin figure of Merle Ambrose appeared between the frames, his staff held at the ready in front of him. His usual blue starry robes and long white beard were swaying in the wind, his monocle glinting in the moonlight as he stared forward intently.

_Shoot, I've been found out!_

Or at least that was what I thought.

I didn't have time to panic however, as at that time, I heard footsteps coming from the tunnel from Ravenwood. A moment later, five figures emerged from the tunnel and walked in the direction of the Headmaster's tower single-filed. I held my breaths, trying to melt myself with the shadows as they walked past the tree.

"We are here," one of the five people said. I observed them through the thick branches and leaves and gasped silently once I recognized one of them. _Oh my God, it's them!_ I felt my heart beating faster as I saw the five enter the yard of the Headmaster's tower. Ambrose had walked down to greet them and then steered them into the tower, the big double doors closed shut then. For a full minute, I just sat there feeling awed. It had been a full year since I last saw them. With them being here, it could only mean one thing, and that had proven my suspicion being true; it was really Malistaire the one Cyrus Drake and Moolinda Wu had talked about this afternoon, otherwise these five people, the Order of the Spiral, wouldn't be here right now this late of night.

_~to be continued~_

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><p><strong>AN**: So, what do you think? I meant to make the ending cliffier but I think I have failed. Please let me know if there is any grammar mistake or confusion in there. This story wasn't beta read and I stink at grammar, so it would be much appreciated if you could point that out so I can improve!

**A/N2**: This is the edited version of the old chapter. Not much has changed except for grammar mistakes here and there (as long as my eyes could see them! There might be some I have missed). Despite the long long long time it stays unupdated, I still haven't given up on this. IRL matters and my lack-of-inspiration-turned-into-laziness are to blame. Gomenasai! *bows so low to my still loyal readers*


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